Jonathan signs N4.485tn budget into law

Daily Trust

28 May 2011

Jonathan signs N4.485tn budget into law …recurrent exceeds capital expenditure …deficit stands at N1.136 trillion

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday signed into law the N4.485 trillion amended 2011 Budget and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) Bill into law, ending stalemate between the Presidency and the National Assembly over the budget figures. The budget’s aggregate expenditure of N4.485 trillion was  N487 billion lower than the N4.972 trillion earlier passed by the National Assembly in March  and which the President refused to assent to and demanded  a cut. The President sent back the 2011 Appropriation Act  to the National Assembly earlier in the week and proposed  reduction in Capital Expenditure, Recurrent Expenditure and Statutory Transfers and also slashed the National Assembly’s budget by about 50 percent from N232.7 billion to N120 billion. The National Assembly, however, passed the amended budget on Tuesday, May 25.

The amended bill has a total forecast revenue of N3.348 trillion based on the benchmark oil price of $75 per barrel while the recurrent expenditure stands at N2.425 trillion higher than the capital expenditure which is N1.147 trillion.  The budget deficit is put at N1.136 trillion or 2.98 percent of the Gross Domestic Products  (GDP) while the statutory transfers have been  reduced from N497 billion in the Appropriation Bill which was passed by the National Assembly in March , to N418 billion.

It will be recalled that Jonathan submitted the 2011 Budget proposal to the National Assembly in December 2010, he received an Appropriation Bill back from the national Assembly in March 2011, an amended Budget was then presented to the National Assembly in May.